


Goodnight, Sleep Light, Stranger

by HeichouJo (GirlGladiator)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 00:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1038389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlGladiator/pseuds/HeichouJo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike Zacharias was a man of many faces: warrior, watchdog, veteran, companion... friend.  The scouting legion won't be the same without him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodnight, Sleep Light, Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> If you really want to cry, you should listen to [[this song]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S1WBP91YKA) while you read this.

In the shadows cast by the setting sun, a sunken-eyed, war-weary man glanced down at the bandaged stump where his right arm should have been.

There could have been a hundred different things on his mind after all the news he had heard since he'd woken up that morning.  But when he saw his reflection in the window, a mess of greasy hair and fresh stubble staring back at him against a dark sky, Erwin Smith had only one thought.

He was seeing ghosts.

Not a word had been spoken about the soldiers lost since the titans had suddenly appeared behind Wall Rose.  No names had been mentioned, nor a single memorial held.  But the absences did not go unnoticed.

When the hunter's faithful hound is lost to the wolves, the man feels no loss until the space at the foot of his bed, once filled by a warm body, lies empty and cold.  

As Erwin lay in his bed, he thought that the world seemed just a little colder than usual that night.  

***

Death was nothing new to Levi.  He had seen hundreds of soldiers come and go in his time with the military.  He had lost entire squads on seemingly futile missions - people he had befriended and grown to care for.  People he had loved.

Whenever he learned another veteran wouldn't be returning, there was usually only one thought on his mind: another life had been lost - and what had they gained to show for it?

This time, though, Levi sensed another feeling: a dull pain in his chest.  He recalled something Erwin had told him once, when he had just joined the scouting legion.

"I knew you were strong," the commander had said.  "But I never expected a man of your size could out-maneuver our best soldier."

That best soldier had been a 6'5" man with a solemn expression and a trace of facial hair.  He had bent down and sniffed Levi moments later, then smiled and commended his skills, conceding that he himself would now be second best.

That strange man had remained second best only marginally, letting Levi take the glory of the title "humanity's strongest," and showing his own fearsome abilities only when commanded by his superiors.  But there was no one in the scouting legion who was not aware of his power.

In the end, it had taken nine titans to destroy the scouting legion's second best, or so the reports had said.  Levi wondered, if a day ever came when it was his turn to go, how many titans would be waiting for him.

***

Hanji was used to silent companionship:  a watchful, protective figure who could fill a space with warmth, as he did when they'd meet in the early mornings for coffee in the mess hall.

Hanji was used to support: someone who walked beside them as equals; who always listened to their ramblings and scientific theories (or at least allowed them to say everything on their mind.)

They were used to camaraderie.  It had been a small comfort to know that they were not the only quirky scouting-legion veteran.  There was someone who would put up with their teasing, and be an outlet when the others knocked Hanji's enthusiasm.  

When the realization dawned that there would be no more late-night squad-leader heart-to-hearts, no more grumpy early-morning coffee breaks, no more too-big cloaks wrapped protectively around their shoulders when they stayed out too late doing research… Hanji found that even they could not really form words to describe the pain.

A quiet, mournful cry echoed through the empty mess hall.

***

In another world, a very tall, scruffy man shuddered in bed as he woke from a restless sleep.  Beside him, a slimmer figure with cropped golden hair slowly blinked awake and shuffled closer.

"Mike," they whispered, "are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Nanaba.  Did I wake you?"

"It's fine.  Did you have a bad dream?"

"I'm not sure," Mike said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  "If I did, I can't remember it now."


End file.
